Arthur Marcus Fitzgerald
was
born on February 13, 1923 at Newport, Monmouthshire, UK. His parents were Gerald
Fitzgerald and Harriet (nee McGuire). He was one of three brothers, the others being
Donald and Albert. Before joining the RAF, he worked as a clerk in Newport.

He joined the RAF on April 4,
1941 and was posted to the Oxford Reserve. He continued his flying training
through-out 1941 and in 1942 was sent for further training to Canada and the
USA. While in North America he trained at Turner Field, Carleston Field and at
the Advanced Flying school at Gunter Field.
He returned to the UK to complete his training and finally on June 8, 1943 he
was posted to 207 Squadron, based at Langar airfield, Nottinghamshire.

207 Squadron
Motto.... Always Prepared

Arthur
flew his first op on
June 12/13, 1943 on a raid to bomb the town of Bochum. Altogether he completed
twelve "Operations" including the famous raid on August 17/18, 1943 to
bomb Peenemunde, the V1 and V2 rocket research establishment. Between July and
August 1943, he was promoted to Pilot Officer.

His thirteenth raid took place
on August 27/28 1943 and was an op to bomb the city of Nuremberg. Arthur failed
to return from this op and he, along with the other six crew members, perished
when their aircraft, Lancaster, ED627, EM-N of 207
Squadron was shot down near the town of Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. Another aircraft of the same
squadron, EM-V was also shot down at the same time. This crew also lost their lives.

Arthur'sop's took him and his
crew on raids,
attacking the towns and cities of Bochum, Oberhausen, Mulheim, Wuppertal,
Cologne, Mannheim, Peenemunde, Berlin, Nuremberg and in Italy, Turin and Milan.

Click on images.

Arthur, Harriet and Donald
Arthur, Gerald, Donald, Albert and Harriet

For further information
about Arthur and his crew click on the link below.